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A Sunset
Advisory Commission review is being conducted now on the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality, and a coalition of local groups
is asking for public input at a town hall meeting Monday. Texas
Public Radio’s Eileen Pace reports.
November 5, 2010 · The group includes
The Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, Leagues of Women Voters of the
San Antonio Area and Comal County, the Alliance for a Clean
Texas, the Sierra Club, Bexar Audubon Society, plus others, along
with State Representatives Trey Martinez Fischer and David McQuade
Leibowitz.
Annalisa Peace of the Aquifer Alliance says there are numerous
problems with the way permits are issued by the TCEQ.
“We’ve seen things where industries gained the permits and TCEQ
staff did not do sufficient oversight. So permits are granted on
bases that are actually fictional. A good example was the mulch fire
in Helotes that happened a few years ago, where that was permitted,
and people complained that it was a very bad situation before it
happened. It’s a combination. We’d like to see the agency better
funded,” Peace said.
The town hall meeting is set for Monday night at the central
library in downtown San Antonio. Peace said the coalition is
planning to tape the meetings and send recorded comments to the
Sunset Advisory Commission. The 12-member commission was created by
the legislature to review government agencies every 12 years,
looking for duplication, considering changes, and considering
whether agencies are serving the public good for which they were
intended.
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